Connan Mockasin

Connan Mockasin, born Connan Tant Hosford on March 21, 1983, in Te Awanga, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, is a singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer known for a hazy, deeply idiosyncratic take on psychedelic pop. He grew up around music — his father led a country band — and began performing and recording from a young age before relocating to London, where he built a cult following through albums like «Forever Dolphin Love» and «Caramel». His work blends warped guitar tones, pitch-shifted vocals and dreamlike, often sexually surreal lyricism into a sound that feels simultaneously vintage and unplaceable.

Mockasin's music resists easy genre placement, drawing on funk, jazz, soft rock and outsider pop while filtering everything through a woozy, slowed-down aesthetic. Songs such as «It's Choade My Dear» and «Faking Jazz Together» showcase his signature guitar playing, an instantly recognizable liquid, detuned style that has made him a favored collaborator and session musician for other artists. His live performances and videos extend the surreal, theatrical persona present throughout his recorded output.

Beyond his solo work, he has collaborated widely across the alternative and psychedelic scenes, lending his guitar and production sensibility to other musicians' records, and has occasionally worked under aliases and side projects. Albums like «Caramel» and later releases such as «Jassbusters» cemented his reputation as one of the more singular voices in contemporary psychedelic pop, admired for prioritizing mood and texture over conventional songcraft.